Thursday, November 8, 2012

Back-Issue Review: Uncanny X-Force #6-9 (2011)

I’m starting to see why everyone speaks of Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force in such glowing terms. AND this storyline is a big help in understanding the current Descendants arc in Secret Avengers. (Don’t you love it when creators pull their ongoing villains and plots from one title to another?)

Remender wastes no time in these issues. The heroes face down a group of cyborg-ed Avengers, evil robot versions of themselves, and a classic X-Men villain. Not to mention the ongoing subplot dealing with Archangel’s horrific dark side as created by Apocalypse.

I really get the impression that Remender likes these characters. Wolverine is a tough guy, and Deadpool and Fantomex fill that role too. (Although Fantomex actually benefits from some nice character and background development too. This is, by far, the most I’ve ever liked the character.) Psylocke and Angel fit in on the team too, but judging by the villains and subplots, Remender is really enjoying peeling back some layers and upgrading the characters. Seeing Betsy try to help Warren navigate his memories is particularly effective. It’s not just old characters; Jason Aaron’s Deathlok sort of joins the team during this arc, too. He fits in better than I would have expected!

Billy Tan’s art is a bit cleaner than Jerome Opena’s. Both artists work well on the material, but even Deathlok looks sleek when Tan draws him. His Jim Lee-inspired armor on Psylocke is awesome too. And who can resist such a classic looking take on the long-time X-foe in issue 8?